La Rivière Espérance

La Rivière Espérance is a French TV series, 9 episodes of 90 minutes each, directed by Josée Dayan based on the novel by Christian Signol and shown in 1995 on France 2.

Synopsis
1832, Périgord : Benjamin and Marie are two childhood friends. Benjamin's father is a merchant sailor on the river Dordogne.

One day he says to his son: « When you're 13, I'll take you with me. » He keeps his promise and Benjamin becomes a sailor like his father. But in that circle, you have to be wary of everybody and of what they live for: the Dordogne.

Doing that job was Benjamin's dream, but could that dream become a nightmare? Fights with merchants and sailors sometimes finish off quite uglily. Will he be able to stay loyal to his friend Marie, or will his nightly 'rendez-vous' with Emeline Lombard, daughter of the rich merchant on whom they depend, separate them?

Cast

 * Manuel Blanc : Benjamin Donardieu
 * Carole Richert : Marie Paradou
 * Claire Nebout : Emeline Lombard
 * Jean-Claude Drouot : Victorien Donadieu
 * Élisabeth Depardieu : Elina Donadieu
 * Pascal Greggory : Alexandre Duthil
 * Bernard Verley : Arsène Lombard
 * Hélène Vincent : Agnès Lombard
 * Raoul Billerey : priest of Souillac
 * Arnaud Giovaninetti : Pierre Bourdelle
 * Jean-Pierre Kalfon : Corentin
 * Roger Souza : Félix Marcas
 * Josée Dayan : Marin Borgne
 * Aurélien Wiik : Benjamin at 13
 * Laura Martel : Marie at 13
 * Eugénia Costantini : Emeline at 13
 * Stephan Guérin-Tillie : Aubin Donnadieu
 * Sandra Speichert : Virginie Duthil
 * Philippe Clay : the Duthils' butler
 * Jean-Yves Gauthier : Vincent Paradou
 * Marianne Epin : Jeanne Paradou
 * Quentin Ogier : Jean Paradou
 * Thierry Rey : Ghilain Claveille
 * François Négret : Jacques Malaurie
 * Julie Dumas : Juliette
 * Thierry Redler : Louis Lafaurie
 * Emmanuelle Meyssignac : Madame Lasalle
 * Hans Meyer : Commander Dugay Trouin
 * Claude Faraldo : Ambroise Debord
 * Jean-Louis Tribes : 'La Bourgogne'
 * Didier Flamand : 'off' voice (summaries)
 * Jennifer Lauret : Virginie at 13